Despite lingering aimlessly without a release due to the collapse of parent company Miramax, first time director Massy Tadjedin‘s romantic drama “Last Night” is actually slated to hit Italian theaters this week after screening at the recent Rome Film Festival. In anticipation for that very release, the first poster and trailer has been unveiled, providing our first look at the anticipated pic.
Starring the promising quartet of Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes and Guillaume Canet, the film follows the story of a married couple whose commitment to each other is tested when they are apart for a night; the husband away on work with a colleague he’s attracted to and the wife as she coincidentally runs into a past love. Its premiere at TIFF drew a generally favourable response with one particular review applauding its “impressive writing, visual command and generally strong performances,” calling it a “part Euro-flavored romance, part suspense-thriller [that’s] elegant filmmaking at the very least” and describing it as “‘Before Sunrise‘ meets ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’”
The premise alone definitely has promise and will seemingly provide a great platform for the actors to flourish, particularly Worthington who has a great opportunity to shake off the “stiff action star” & “sci-fi poster boy” persona that has plagued him. Having said that, the aforementioned review by Movieline’s Stu Vanairsdale mentions that “the second [act], due largely to Worthington’s stiffness and dispassion, falls short” so we’ll have to wait and see.
It’ll also be good exposure for Canet who has been living in the shadow of partner Marion Cotillard (at least to U.S. audiences). Last we heard, he has an upcoming teaming with James Gray for a Philadelphia-set period remake of 2008 French Film “Les Liens Du Sang” titled “Rivals” but his latest effort, “Les Petits Mouchoirs” (“Little White Lies“) starring Cotillard and an ensemble of French talent, recently premiered at TIFF.
“Last Night” doesn’t have a stateside release yet due to the troubles at Miramax though that should be changed soon with that company’s pending sale. [MSN]
